Mississippi Man Sentenced to Over 22
Years in Federal Prison for Drug Conspiracy

From: News Release 3/6/19
GCN

Jackson, Miss. – Lorenzo Dyrell Hickman, 32, of Philadelphia,
Mississippi, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Henry T.
Wingate, to 270 months in federal prison followed by five years of
supervised release for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Jere T. Miles, Special Agent in
Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security
Investigations in New Orleans.

Hickman was charged in a single count indictment on May 2, 2018, and
pled guilty on November 2, 2018, to conspiracy to distribute
methamphetamine. Hickman was responsible for the distribution of
kilograms of methamphetamine in the Philadelphia, Mississippi area. He
also was convicted in Georgia of possessing a kilogram of cocaine that
was destined for distribution in Mississippi.

This case is the result of an extensive Organized Crime Drug
Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, dubbed AOperation
Highlife,@ which began as an operation targeting illegal narcotics
distribution in east central Mississippi area that involved the
distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. The distribution
network encompasses the states of California, Tennessee, Alabama,
Georgia and Mississippi

"Methamphetamine has devastated countless communities due to the
dramatic health and public safety consequences that typically accompany
its introduction into an area," said Special Agent in Charge of Homeland
Security Investigations New Orleans Jere T. Miles. "Today’s sentencing
stems from an extensive HSI effort with its federal, state and local
partners to dismantle a drug trafficking organization that decimated
parts of Mississippi and Alabama with cocaine and other narcotics
smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. This operation is a testament to the
seamless partnership between HSI, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics
and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and we are thankful for their
assistance as well as the U.S. Attorneys’ to improve the lives of
law-abiding residents throughout Mississippi and Alabama."

The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state and local cooperative
approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for
disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations,
targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations,
and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to
disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their
assets.

This OCDETF case is a result of a joint investigation by the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations,
the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mississippi Bureau of
Narcotics. Assisting agencies include the Philadelphia Police
Department, Neshoba County Sheriff’s Department, Neshoba County District
Attorney’s Office, Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Flowood Police
Department, Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, Hinds County Sheriff’s
Department, Carthage Police Department, Union Police Department, Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Louisville Police
Department, Mississippi Highway Patrol and the United States Marshal
Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Chalk is prosecuting the case.